Turkish media believe Celtic made offer for top scorer Aaron Boupendza

By David Walton

May 20, 2021

A Turkish newspaper has claimed that Celtic have had an offer rejected for Hatayspor striker Aaron Boupendza.

Celtic were first linked with the player back in March. The Hatayspor striker was said to have been monitored by English Premier League clubs as well as Celtic and Rangers [90Min].

But daily Turkish newspaper Milliyet has taken it one step further. They believe, according to sources in the player’s homeland, that Celtic had an offer of €6.5million (£5.4m) rejected for the players services in recent times. It had previously been reported by 90Min that Hatayspor wanted as much as £8.5m to buy the Gabon international.

Milliyet report the player himself would prefer to stay in Turkey. After ending the season as the top scorer with 22 goals, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray have also been linked with a move for him.

The Turkish report, however, believes discussions are still ongoing.

Celtic wouldn’t be splashing major cash on Aaron Boupendza until a new manager is confirmed

Whilst the idea of us getting major signings over the line would be pleasing, it’s difficult to see this coming to fruition. Are Celtic really going to be splashing out £6.5million on players without confirmation from a new manager?

We would almost certainly need the say-so from whoever’s taking charge. Or at least that’s the way it should be in any case. Then you have the prospect of whether the new man has even had the chance to take a proper look at Boupendza. After all, a deal of around £6m-£7m would be huge from Celtic perspective.

Not that Boupendza isn’t an attractive proposition. He’s had a superb season with Hatayspor in their debut campaign. He’s shown some clinical finishing ability and appears to have finally come out of his shell as a player. But there are certainly drawbacks.

Atakas Hatayspor striker Aaron Boupendza (Photo by Burak Milli/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

He doesn’t have any substantial European experience for a start. He also doesn’t have a good track record before his move to Turkey last summer. These things must be taken into consideration before plumping a big-money offer in on him.

That’s why it’s safe to assume that Celtic haven’t made anything like an offer of the sum reported in Turkish media. It’s too much of a mega-deal to be done before we even have a new manager over the line.

Yes, behind-the-scenes work will be going on regarding our transfer work. But not to this extent.

In other news, Scott Brown published an emotional farewell to the club on Instagram today.